There was no way that I could look up before I sank my fangs into that amazingly soft flesh, but I did as my maker asked. I took a small amount, enough to feel it coating my stomach and making its way through my veins. I licked the wounds clean that I had made. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off of Martin. His head was slightly tilted back and his eyes were closed. He was beautiful! I continued kissing my way up his chin then cheek and that’s when he stopped me.

“You must go and get ready, and I must go to our room and rest,” he said, with both hands on my shoulders.

“Are you okay?”

“I am in a bit of pain but Tammy was kind enough to leave a little wine in the room. I think it best if I go and have a small drink.” He kissed my forehead, leaned over and picked up his cane and slowly made his way to the door.

“Can I at least help you to the room?” I asked, walking over and touching his back.

“No, I believe that would do more harm than help. I do not mean to hurt your feelings in any way, my love, but I have told you that it would be very hard to be around you until I have healed. This, I am afraid, is one of those times.”

Blushing would be an understatement to what I must have looked like after I realized what Martin was talking about. He had become aroused from me drinking from his neck and it was causing him a great amount of pain. I felt like he had given me a gift, one that I could feel rushing through me. Every sense that I had was because of touching him in some way. I could smell him, see his eyes when mine were shut, hear his breath on the vibrations of my ear as if he were whispering something to me. It was if he was walking with me as I walked into the room with the others.

Chapter Twenty Five  

Tanda had already worked on half of the group, putting their make-up on after they dressed. Derek, Sydney, and I were the only ones left waiting to sit in her chair that soon became known as, Tanda’s torture throne, and to feel her wrath; but she was having the time of her life. Fala stood back and watched it all. All that he had to do was get a light powder on his face with a touch of cheek blush. Once the others were finished I knew it was my turn. I for one was ready for a good laugh. Just the thought of all of my little ones playing dress-up was a hoot to me.

If I was going to look anything like Tammy then I was going to look ridiculous. The white could not get any whiter than Tanda painted on her face and her cheeks and lips were a bright red. On one cheek she had a black mole painted on, and her eyes were extremely heavy in make-up. It looked as if her face would crack in half if she smiled even a little. The boy’s thought they would get away with a mask but because we were doing our best to not be noticed as breeders who were not known to the area, they all had one form of make-up on or another. That made it very hard to not have some form of a smile on my face when I finally stepped into the room instead of peering at them from the secrecy of the shadows of the foyer.

Jacob, Cates, Tammy, and Garvin turned and looked at me at the same time I stepped into the room laughing, thinking they would join me. My laugh slowed to a giggle, then stopped all together. Tanda and Derek came around me, with Sydney and Fala following them. “What’s wrong with all of you?”

“You walk with a power of Martin all around you,” Jacob replied. “Why would you feed on him at a time like this?”

“You cannot go to the gala with his aroma all over you. They will know you belong to him as soon as you walk in the front door,” Cates growled, shaking his head.

“Renee,” Tammy walked up to me. “Why didn’t you wait until we came back?”

“What the hell are y’all talking about?”

“You drank from your maker, did you not?” Jacob snapped.

“He said it would make me stronger!” I snapped back.

“He has fooled you, Renee. Martin knows they would feel his blood in your veins. You cannot go with us and that he also knew.”

“That son-of-a-bitch,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Well, I’m going no matter what he thought feeding on him would do.”

“If you do, we will all die.” Jacob turned his back to me. “There is only one way to mask what Martin has done… and you will not approve.”

“I did what I did to protect the one I love,” Martin spoke as he stepped into the study.

“Oh, you have just opened a whole new door of piss-me-off is what you did,” I spun around so fast he stepped back. “How could you, Martin?”

“How could I not do whatever I could to stop you from dying this night? There will be too many, Renee. You are putting all of our people in harm’s way.”

“Don’t you say that…don’t you ever say that! These are my people and I would never stab them in the back the way you did me.” I turned back around and looked at Jacob. “What do I do to take this off?”

“You can only mask his mark by taking in others.”

“Are you saying that I have to drink from more of you to get rid of his…” I paused.

“Odor,” Derek smirked.

“Yeah, what Derek said.”

“You can look at it as finally marking those who follow you,” Cates added, walking up to me and going down on one knee. It was then that I heard Martin going back up the staircase. “You need but take a small amount.”

“Is this really necessary?” I asked all who were in the room.

“If you wish to join us in taking down the two heads of this great city, it is.” Jacob walked up behind Cates and put both hands on his shoulders.

They each stood in line. I looked down at Cates, fear gripping my stomach so harshly that I felt that I would be ill at any moment. Cates reached around and moved his hair and then leaned his head to the side, exposing his neck to me. My eyes rose to find Jacob looking back at me. He nodded once, then looked down at the matter at hand. I smoothed my hand over Cates’ arm as I bent over, then I sank my fangs into the pulsating invitation. I only took a small amount; swallowing twice, maybe three times, before I felt Jacob’s hand on my back. By the time I had reached Tanda, the last, I was so full I thought for sure I would burst at the first foul scent that we passed.

“I belong to you twice as much now,” Tanda smiled, holding her neck where I had marked her.

“How do y’all know I don’t smell like Martin anymore?”

“You smell like a mass of your kind and no longer just one, Renee,” Fala answered from the foyer. “I do not believe any night creature would be able to decipher your count when you are only one.”

“Wouldn’t that be a giveaway itself? Surely there isn’t a lot of breeders walking around with a load of their follower’s blood hangin’ around in their body.”

“And the slang begins,” Jacob said with one side of his mouth raised in an evil grin. “That is a true statement, my young Renee. However…every old breeder there will be bloated with the blood of slave and normals alike. The more show of power they have, the better to secure their years trade around London.”

“Will these older breeders be bringing some of this trade to the gala?” Derek asked.

“They bring their trade no matter where they go. But, none are allowed to bring them into the homes of the higher land owners of London without a personal invitation. That only happens if the gifts they offer are up to standards of the mistress or master of the manor,” Cates explained, taking Tammy into his arms.

“Okay, then another question. Will these breeders know that the blood in me is the ones walking with me? And before you say it Jacob, I already know it’s just another stupid question.”

“I was going to say that your questions are starting to have a great deal of meaning, right up until you added the last. And to answer it, no, they will not know unless the older breeders have tasted us on a more recent visit. To my knowledge, they have not.”